As known by those skilled in the art of computers, a programming language or computer language is a standardized communication tool for expressing instructions to a computer so the computer can execute the instructions, to perform specific acts. Programming languages come in various styles. Some are procedural languages such as C. Some are object oriented, such as C++ and Java. Some are functional such as Haskell. A scripting language tends to be a simple programming language designed for ease of programming and for performing special or limited tasks. For example, nowadays, JavaScript is often used to provide additional functionality and/or interactivity for Web applications. Visual Basic Script, Perl, and TCL are other examples of scripting languages. In general, a scripting language has simpler syntax and fewer programming constructs than a traditional programming language such as C, C++, or Java. In addition, scripting languages do not need to be compiled, and they can be interpreted at run time, though can be executed immediately.
Scripting is the process of using a scripting language to create a set of instructions to achieve a specific function using a scripting language. Unlike traditional programming using programming languages such as C, C++, or Java that manipulate the processes of a computer, scripting tends to involve a fast, smaller set of simple instructions. A script tends to accomplish a specific purpose, such as controlling the process of connecting a computer to another computer via a modem, or controlling how content in a Web page changes according to user input. On the World Wide Web, a scripting language can be used to create scripts to customize or add interactivity to Web pages and Web applications. For example, when inserted into a Web page, a script can control various elements of the Web page, such as the user interface, styles, and HTML markup of the Web page.
Over time, traditional programming has integrated concepts such as abstraction and encapsulation into a programming language and generated programming languages such as C++ and Java that provides predetermined patterns and structures. On the other hand, scripting has remained ad-hoc, involving no patterns or structures and often resulting in error-prone code that is hard to maintain. For example, a scripting environment generally lacks an application framework layer. Scripting thus occurs without any abstractions to hide the complexity of different functionalities and to address common scripting patterns.
While specific disadvantages of existing systems have been illustrated and described in this Background Section, those skilled in the art and others will recognize that the subject matter claimed herein is not limited to any specific implementation for solving any or all of the described disadvantages.